The production of sustainable energy that generates a clear and net greenhouse gas saving is one of the main objectives of the EU. Nature has already provided us with the most efficient energy infrastructures known, since photosynthesis provides virtually all the energy sustaining the biosphere. A deeper understanding of photosynthetic systems, and how energy transfers within their different sub-units, would show us the way to efficient energy flow, opening the path to the (nano-)fabrication of highly efficient solar cells and energy transmission networks.
Researchers from different disciplines including Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Engineering are striving to understand this process and emulate in artificial devices the light harvesting, initial conversion of optical to electrical energy, energy flow and electrical to chemical energy conversion process of natural photosynthesis.
The photosynthetic apparatus in biological organisms features a complex network ranging from tens to up to thousands of interconnected chlorophylls. After the initial conversion of light into electronic excitations (excitons), the exciton transverses a multi-connected potential-energy landscape on its way from the antenna to the reaction center, where in a next step chemical reactions are triggered.
With the advent of laser technologies and faster computing processors and algorithms, advanced spectroscopic experiments and quantum-chemical calculations have been developed. Questions that need to be answered include the role of quantum coherence and vibrational environmental states in the energy transport and the theoretical modelling of spectroscopic experiments.
The COMPLEX project focuses on the understanding and modelling of energy transfer in photosynthetic complexes. We have developed and identified novel numerical methods to model and understand the energy transport in complex networks. We have validated the computational tools for a direct comparison of model-based predictions with experimental spectral data of photosynthetic complexes.
